I have been in the process of planning a wedding (and honeymoon) for roughly 1 year. Everything is almost done except for the final details and miscellaneous items. This has consumed my time greatly and I haven’t been blogging as much as I could. Not that it really matters as there are about a handful of people who actually read this but that is not the point. The point is that I have been absent and miss it as it is a hobby of mine.

Most people planning a wedding go on diets & complete fitness programs in hopes of having a “wedding body” that will look great in person, but also very importantly, in photos. I did no such thing. I recently lost a lot of weight in the previous 1.5 years (all of 2014-june 2015) but that is a different topic related to health that I will write about at a later date. No. I did not do the wedding plan diet/work out craze.

I don’t really believe in them. I believe in eating well but enjoying my food & being active because it makes me feel good, takes away stress, and I sleep better. Instead, I have been doing what I always do when it comes to food and fitness. So today was like every other winter saturday as my guy is out being an ice fishing guide.

When he is out on the ice I am left alone to do what I want to do. To cook what I want to cook. Since he is a meat & potatoes guy, I try to experiment with vegetarian dishes as I know he would otherwise disapprove. As I was staring into my pantry (fully stocked as I live in the middle of nowhere) I noticed a can of garbanzo beans or chickpeas. I immediately knew that I was going to make veggie burgers. So simple & so delicious. It won’t hurt your waistline either. So if you are trying to find healthy new recipes because you are on a diet (I won’t judge), you just like to eat well, or you are experimenting with vegetarian dishes like me, than this is a recipe you should try. I think even my meat & potatoes man might like it (he used to think falafels were made of meat after all).

Mini Veggie Burgers (serves 1)

• 1/2 cup canned chickpeas (drained & rinsed)
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• few splashes lemon juice
• 1-2 tsp mayonaise
• few dashes each onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, paprika, cumin, & cayenne
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp olive oil

Mash the chickpeas into a bowl. Add all the other ingredients except the olive oil and mix well. Form into two patties. Heat the olive oil in a small skillet & cook the patties for about 3 minutes per side on medium heat or until golden & slightly crispy and heated through. Serve on a bun with burger condiments or serve plain with a side of your choice (I ate mine plain topped with spicy asian chili sauce & used a can of green beans for my side as it was in my pantry).